James Andrew Walsh

(An interview with Mick Mackey, arguably Ireland's greatest hurler)"When I again turned Mick's thoughts to the 1934 All-Ireland, he commented that Dublin had a wonderful half-back line...Jimmy Walsh, a Waterford man, was also great for Dublin; he did some terrible (i.e. formidably great) hurling for his side on the day of the replay."

Walsh played half back (see Gaelic football, hurling and camogie positions) for Dublin GAA and Leinster GAA. He was on the team that won the 1932 Railway Cup Hurling Championship and the 1933 Railway Cup Hurling Championship. He also played in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship of 1932 and 1933. His team won the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship in 1934, and played Limerick in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1934 at Croke Park, Dublin. Leinster lost after a hard-fought replay in the game that marked the Golden Anniversary of the Gaelic Athletic Association. Walsh won medals and appeared on a National Sporting Heroes cigarette card published about 1934-5 by W.D. & H.O. Wills.

In the archives of the Leinster GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), James is referred to as Jim Walsh (Civil Service). This was done to avoid confusing him with other hurlers of the same name, but it also signifies that Walsh was among Ireland's first generation of civil servants. Fluent in the Irish language, he passed the Civil Service Entrance Examination for Executive Officers, ranking 12th out of the 250 candidates in 1926. His entry into the Civil Service meant moving from Waterford to Dublin. He first worked in the Department of Education, was seconded briefly to the Department of Finance, and eventually settled in the Department of Defence.

James Andrew Walsh (20 November 1908 – 17 May 1985) was an Irish hurler.